Stories from the Corporate Events War Room: Featuring Lana Liss
I continue to be fascinated by and proud of the work that in-house event organizers are capable of especially during a period of crisis. As a former in-house event planner with experience on the brand side of the events industry, I know for a fact just how important and critical the skill sets that most event producers inhabit can be in pivoting in-flux event plans and thinking of new strategies for employee and community engagement.
In this instalment of our summer blog series “Stories from the Corporate Events War Room” I caught up with my colleague Lana Liss, Manager of Donor Development and Community Events for the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) of Greater Toronto. Lana shared compelling stories from the war room at UJA, all with some super impressive data points:
Cancelling a 20,000 person, 51-year legacy event with just a few weeks notice
Creating/executing a community-wide, on-the-ground support initiative in less than five days
I have said it before and I’ll say it again: event professionals have been given the opportunity of a lifetime (thanks, COVID-19!) to be one of the most essential and necessary partners to an organization now more than ever before.
Lana’s stories about the UJA community spirit and roll-up-your-sleeves attitude are remarkable and showcase what’s possible in the live events industry when an event professional is at the table. You will love the results.
Happy reading!
Featured Event Professional:
Lana Liss
Manager, Donor Development & Community Events
United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto
What was the war room like for you and your organization when COVID-19 hit?
Our “war room” kicked off at the end of February as we started to see the effects of COVID-19 on the world. At this time, a few of my colleagues had just arrived back from a conference in Washington, D.C. and we found out some other attendees had tested positive, thus sending my colleagues into a 14-day quarantine. This was the beginning of our conversations with medical professionals, our Board of Directors and the Executive team.
With a 20,000-person legacy event scheduled for the end of May, conversations about events moving forward or not, signing contracts, and booking vendors were becoming paramount. Panic was setting in, as we had deposits on the table and little knowledge about whether the city would allow public events to move forward with permits. The end of March was when reality really kicked in and the City of Toronto made our decision for us by (understandably) cancelling all city permits.
We had to ask ourselves: what now? How do we let a 50-year event not take place? How do we stop all of our events that bring together such a large community in Toronto? It was quite intense.
Tell us what it was like to shut down a 20,000 person walk-style legacy event in a short timeframe.
UJA’s biggest event is the Walk with Israel, which brings together 15,000 to 20,000 community members. Celebrating its 51st consecutive year in 2020, we were not prepared to let COVID-19 be the reason to end that tradition. Cancelling the walk and festival component of the event not only impacted the community but our team felt a personal loss as we had been planning it since August 2019. Eight months of planning and the pandemic forced our organization to cancel.
We knew we couldn’t bring the community together in person, but we didn’t want to lose sight of the importance of the event and its ability to bring everyone together in support of Israel and the global Jewish community.
With 10 weeks to go until our scheduled event date, we began brainstorming ways to engage our supporters and bring everyone together. As a team, we came up with the Virtual Walk with Israel. Putting the event online, we could showcase messages of hope and unity from leaders around the world, as well as exciting entertainment like Canadian singers Amy Sky and Chantal Kreviazuk; Israeli entertainers like David Broza; and popular acts like the Maccabeats and Elon Gold. We also encouraged our community to send in photos and videos of how they were celebrating the Virtual Walk with Israel, and to take their own (socially distant) walk to show their commitment and pride.
We are proud to say that the event saw over 20,000 viewers from 15 countries around the world. The event would not have been possible without the continued support of over 60 sponsors who stayed with us to show support of the event and cause.
You created a program at the onset of COVID-19 to support your UJA community members who are either immune compromised or could not leave their houses.
Tell us about the project and the strategy for logistical execution.
When the pandemic started, our organization realized immediately we needed to jump into action or thousands of community members would suffer. The Emergency Campaign for Community Resilience began to help all the people who were already vulnerable, plus the newly vulnerable – those who were let go from jobs, who were immunocompromised and needed to stay home. UJA organized a phone tree so volunteers could check in on community members. To date, over 23,000 phone calls have been made.
Food boxes were packed and delivered for those who couldn’t get their own groceries. Donations helped our partner agencies continue working in order to provide the help their clients need, such as food relief, job searches, addiction counselling, and assistance for seniors living in isolation. UJA rallied together to create the best possible strategy to help our community. This was an unprecedented crisis that required a community-wide approach, and our donors and volunteers have been amazing in keeping our community strong.
As an Event Manager, my skill set of organization, connection with vendors and ability to think on my feet and problem solve were key, as my colleagues and I had to arrange for box packing space that was weather approved and allowed for safe social distancing. We coordinated volunteers to pack boxes and arrange the delivery of over 300 boxes to families in need across Toronto and the surrounding area.
With only a day and a half of planning and 5 days to get all boxes packed and hand delivered to their recipients, communication and staying calm were integral in overcoming the hiccups and challenges we faced during this project.
Have there been any unexpected benefits to UJA/your events due to COVID-19? Share a positive aspect that has come out of all of this.
One of the unexpected benefits to UJA that has come from this situation is that we have had to slow down and reassess the events we produce and why we produce them. What is the benefit to the community? What message of impact do we want to relay and how do we want to keep everyone motivated to continue giving to the Annual Campaign? We have learned that in some ways, online meetings and workshops actually garner a larger attendance, as our community members and volunteers don’t have to juggle the commute to make it to a venue. COVID-19 has taught us that our usual monthly meetings can be done just as effectively, if not more so, online and in less time.
What do you see being the biggest future hurdle for event producers?
Trying to be different. Producing an event or creating an experience virtually that our community will continue to talk about. Another issue is how to overcome Zoom fatigue.
True or False: Virtual events are a stopgap, but people will desire to be together in-person again as soon as it is safe to do so.
True.
As humans, we are innately social creatures and need to connect with others. While online events allow you to connect in a certain way, it is not the same as speaking face-to-face, hearing a speaker live, shaking a hand. I guess elbow bumps will be the new handshake!
Thanks to Lana and the UJA team for letting us explore their ‘wins’ and highlight the great work they are doing in Toronto. To continue to follow their stories, follow:
United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto:
@UJAFederation
Lana Liss:
@LanaRL
